Robert Goodman, Mini MBA graduate
Robert Goodman, Virginia native, grew up playing sports at Benedictine High School in Richmond and landed a baseball scholarship at the University of Virginia (UVa).
Goodman spent two years playing varsity baseball at UVa and then decided to take time off and work in the University’s athletic department. It was during this time away from the field that he discovered his love for sports management.
After graduation, Goodman accepted a job with the Richmond Braves, where he stayed for three seasons. Throughout the course of his career, he has added the athletic department at the College of William and Mary to his resume, and he has also worked in employee benefits.
Most recently, Goodman has served as Senior Associate Commissioner at the Colonial Athletic Association, where he plans and executes events like the men’s basketball championship game between Virginia Commonwealth University and Drexel University.
“I love events,” he said. “I love taking an event from the very first meeting until the last whistle blows.”
“To transform the Richmond Coliseum into a showcase on ESPN and know that I had a hand in that is really kind of fulfilling. It’s one of the best parts of my job.”
This past fall, Goodman took some time outside of his CAA commitments and went back to the classroom through the Robins School’s Executive Education Mini MBA program.
“I received a postcard in the mail about the Mini MBA, and I sat it aside,” he recalled. “Over the summer, I revisited the idea and thought, ‘I’m going to look into this.’”
After attending an information session on the Mini MBA, Goodman made up his mind to enroll in the program.
“What I loved about the Mini MBA is that you weren’t ‘majoring’ in one thing. So, I was able to learn a lot about a lot of different subjects that go into an MBA degree—from finance, to accounting, to marketing, to management.”
Goodman particularly enjoyed learning about project management through the program and was able to readily transfer concepts into his current career. “The project management process was the biggest thing I learned and the biggest thing I needed to improve on,” he said.
“That is, how to start a project, how to delegate, and how to really take a project from start to finish. I’ve done a lot of project management in the past, but now I’ve got a better process of how to do that.”
The professors that presented throughout the Monday night courses also stood out to Goodman as easily accessible and invested in him as a professional student.
“As a group, the Mini MBA faculty was the nicest, most welcoming and helpful bunch,” he said. “They were constantly giving out their cell phone numbers and email addresses and genuinely wanted us to contact them with any questions, problems or concerns.”
Although Goodman works in the sports management industry, he had the opportunity to interact with professionals from various fields and backgrounds through the Mini MBA program.
“Everybody brought a great and different perspective,” he said. “We all were in the Mini MBA for different reasons and got different things out of it.”